The Wish Book
by blackwidow73
Summary: Sequal to "I Can't Make You". Josi is now 16 and feels that there are some things within her and her mother's life that should be changed.
1. What I Want

Chapter 1: What I Want

_Everyone has their own idea as to what it means to be happy. Some believe that popularity will bring them happiness while other, money and some believe that it is in respect and recognition. What these people do not know is that happiness is not something that comes in a package. It is not a material thing. It is a feeling that comes with accepting what you have and not crying and whining over what you do not have. And if there is something that you feel you should have, work towards it because that is the only chance it has of coming true. _

Josi Gerard sat in her room, doing what she usually did. She sat in the bedroom that she shared with her five year old little sister, Annabelle, and wrote in her journal. At the age of sixteen, she was happy living with her mother and sister. They didn't have all that much, but she did recognize that Rhoda worked two jobs for them.

_I try to stay true to this, but sometimes its hard. I see Lisey, Johnny, Cassie and Jessica getting to do all of this stuff that Annie and I never got to do. This includes spending time with mom. Or even having a dad. Just like my mom says about Aunt Mary, everything's perfect for her. The same thing goes for Lisey. I'm positive that if we didn't see them so often that I would have no idea on how much we go without. Around here this is all normal, but there is so much better out there. I don't think I could ever consider staying here after high school. _

"Josi! Josi! We gots twenty five dollars!"

Josi looked up from her journal and smiled to the blonde haired little girl. Annabelle was the odd one out in the family. Josi had the dark hair, her mother's eyes and her father's smile. She talked and acted mostly like her mother. She knew this because anytime she did anything that would remind Rhoda of Joe, she would go out of her way to point it out. Annabelle on the other hand had blonde hair and blue eyes. In a few ways it was easy to tell that she was Rhoda's daughter, but there were just some things that could not be explained without knowing the father.

"Really?" Josi asked. "How much of that do you think you deserve?"

Annabelle took the bag and sat down on her bed with it. "All of it," she said starting to laugh. 

"All of it?" Josi asked as she got up to go join her. "How about half? I did take you around, and actually did the work ya know?"

"Well," Annabelle siad as she looked over the bag. "Can I keep five?"

Josi laughed. "How about ten?"

Annabelle smiled and nodded. Josi took the bag and pulled out ten dollars for her. "There you go," she said.

"Thank you!" Annabelle said before hopping off the bed and heading back out of the room.

_No one's life is perfect. I know that. There are a few things I would like to change about mine right now. First, would be the fact that I would like to be able to pay for college. Currently we do not have much money, but I know that there are ways for me to do this. Another thing is that I think my mom could use a husband. She hasn't been in a serious relationship since my father died and she does seem lonely at times. The final one would be to get a better place to live. This would be the hardest out of all three. _

_Each one of these has a solution. The first one I am already working on. I currently work at extra little odd jobs around the apartment for money while mom's at work. So far, after a year I have close to three thousand dollars saved. I am also doing a lot of cutting back on things, such as taking the lunch money that mom gives me and saving it instead of eating. I have decided to only buy the things that are completely necessary, such as things for school. I don't think I have actually gone and seen a movie or bought anything at the mall for a year now. As soon as the summer gets here, which is only in a couple of weeks, I am going to go out and get a job. _

_The second was about getting my mom a date. This should be interesting. I know this man who lives in 10B, he is always asking about her. It is so obvious that he has a crush on her. If not that guy though, there were still a few elegable men out there. The hard part would be getting ehr to agree to it. _

_The final one, getting a new place. I would need more money for that and a lot of convincing. We have been living here since I was born. Its hard to just pick up and move out. Its also more fo a choice for me. Do I save my money for college? Or do I put some towards a new place? I don't even know if mom would go for it. _

Josi laid her pen down and sighed. These were things that she truly wanted to do. The more that she thought about all of this, the harder it all seemed. After a year she only had three thousand dollars. That wouldn't even get her through a year of college let alone through all four. Her mother, she knew would find every reason in the world to not go out with who ever she chose to set her up with. She also knew that it would be hard to get her mother and sister to pack up their things and leave to start over. "Oh well," she said to herself and then got up and left the room.

Josi knew that Rhoda would be home within the next hour. Her friend, Kate had gotten a hold of some hair dye from her mother's salon and gave it to Josi. She figured that this was the time to use it. First, she had to bleach what ever strips of hair that she wanted to use before applying the hot pink anywhere.

Rhoda walked in the door and set her purse down. Annabelle went running up to her. "Hi mommy!"

Rhoda leaned down and hugged her. "Hey there kid." Standing up, she looked around. "What's your sister up to?"

"Coloring," Annabelle said.

"Yeah?" Rhoda asked.

"Right here ma!" Josi called. "I'll be right out. Got somethin for you to see!"

Rhoda rolled her eyes. "Great," she said. "Ya know Jos, that stopped being cute when you were two!"

Josi stepped out of the bathroom with two pink streaks in her hair. One on each side of her face. "What do ya think?"

Rhoda looked it over with surprise. She was expecting to see a new peircing somewhere or something like that. "Hey, that's pretty cute there."

"You really think so?" Josi asked. She was glad that her mother approved. That seemed to be one thing that kind of seperated Rhoda from what she saw with her friends and their mothers. Rhoda was pretty open minded when it came to certain things.

Rhoda walked over and started to play with her daughter's hair. "Yeah. But how did you do that?"

Josi laughed. "I took some bleach and sprayed it in, let it sit and then rinsed it out a few times, washed it, put conditioner in and then dried it."

"I guess as long as your hair is still there."

"Can I have one too mommy?" Annabelle asked referring to the pink streaks.

"Well, you would certainly be easier," Rhoda said and then looked over to Josi. "What do you think?"

"I have enough to give you one too," Josi said.

Rhoda laughed. "Oh yeah, that would look good on me."

**Just a start. The next chapter will include Mary and her family. Let me know what you think :) **


	2. My Part

Chapter 2: My Part

Lisey, Johnny and Cassie all walked in the door and started to head upstairs to their rooms. Mary, who had three year old Jessica with her, walked over to the staircase and laughed. "Well aren't any of you going to say hi?"

Lisey, the oldest at the age of fourteen, stopped and looked down to Mary. As soon as she stopped, the other two followed. "Hey mom," she said and then continued her way up. Johnny, who was twelve pretty much shrugged her off and followed Lisey. Cassie, a little girl at the age of six, turned around and walked down the stairs. "Hi mommy," she said hugging her.

"Now that's more like it," Mary said. She set Jessica down and then grabbed both daughter's hands. "Why don't you two come into the kitchen for a snack while Cassie tells us about her day?"

"Kay!" Jessica said.

Lisey walked into her room and dropped her backpack by her bed. Rushing over to her desk, she pulled out a notebook, more of a journal.

_My final week of the eigth grade. After the summer I officially begin high school. It sounds weird to even be saying that to myself. There are just a few things that I wish I could change though. The one good thing about going to a private school, is that I have the chance to change everything about myself if I wanted to since not everyone from my current class will go to the same high school with me. I guess the key word there would be WANTED. Sometimes I don't know what I'm happy and unhappy with. _

_The first thing that does come to mind though would be the fact that I am played out to be this perfect little girl. I don't want to be the goody two shoes. I don't want to be the sweet innocent little girl who does everything that she is told to do. I don't want to always be happy and optimistic to the point where it could begin to annoy others. I don't want to be my mother. I want to be my own person. Her friends come over, Aunt Rhoda, Mr. Grant, Aunt Phyllis, they all tell me how much i remind them of her. I love her, but I want to be my own person, get my own chances. The last thing that I ever want to do is follow in someone else's footsteps. I think I would prefer to make my own. _

There was a knock at the door. Lisey closed the book and got up to open the door. "Yeah?" she asked as she saw Johnny standing out in the hall.

"I need your calculater and some graph paper. I think I'm on to something for science fair," Johnny stated.

Lisey went over to her desk to grab the things that he needed. Johnny was an interesting person, at least he interested Lisey. Everything he did, he could somehow explain with math or science. Complicated equations fascinated him. He stopped at nothing to finally figure something out. Most of the grades in his sujects were poor, except for math and science. He thrived on those. It was as if he only lived to solve puzzles. "Here you go," she said handing the materials over.

"Thanks. I should have them back to you by the morning. I think I'm gonna pull another all nighter."

"Hey, Johnny. Once in a while those things are okay. But twice in one month?" Lisey leaned against the door frame as she crossed her arms.

Johnny sighed. "If you were writing one of those stories that you always do, and there was one that you just had to finish. The ending was perfectly planned out in your head and you just couldn't wait to get to writing that part, wouldn't you stay up all night to finally get there?"

Lisey sighed in defeat. "All right," she said standing up. "I'll cover for you in the morning if mom asks."

"I owe you," Johnny said and then walked back to his room.

Lisey rolled her eyes and walked back into her room. "I'm sure," she murmured to herself as she closed the door. She made her way back to her desk and opened the notebook to continue writing.

_Maybe we all have things that we are good at that no one else can do. The way that Johnny goes through the day is pretty different. My best friend Leigh is a poet and my other best friend Tim knows all the constellations by heart and how to navigate using the stars. Josi can draw perfectly, making it feel like you're staring at a photograph. I just don't know what I can do. Write? I know plenty of people that can write, just as good, if not better than me. _

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Annabelle sat on the edge of the bathtub admiring her small streak of pink in her hair as Rhoda and Josi stood in front of the mirror. "See ma? Can't even find it now can ya?"

Rhoda knew that she would regret letting Josi do this to her, but she really had nothing to lose. It was just something for fun. Running her hands through her hair, she examined herself. "Where did you put it?"

Josi went through the bottom layer of her hair and then seperated it from the rest. "There it is!"

"I think its pretty mommy!" Annabelle said.

"Thanks Bell," Rhoda said, still unsure of her hair.

"Don't worry, you knew it was there and you didn't even see it." Josi stood back and smiled.

Rhoda sighed. "Yeah, well, we'll see if anyone else sees it. Bren's supposed to bring Jason over tonight." She then turned to face Josi. "Ya mind entertaining him for an hour?"

Josi knew that Brenda and Gerry were going through a divorce. Everyone knew, except for Jason. There were times that she truly felt bad for the little boy. "Sure. What time?"

"I dunno. Brenda called me this morning , said something about her lawyer and custody. She was so anxious she wasn't speaking clearly." Rhoda had an idea of what she had said, but hated the idea of it. Custody was something that she didn't want to hear when it came to all of this.

"Does grandma know about all of this going on?" Josi asked.

"Some of it," Rhoda answered. "Only what she needs to know." Rhoda thought for a moment and then turned to Josi. "You're obviously aware of the fact that we don't tell our mother much."

"No way!" Josi said and then smirked.

Rhoda completely ignored the sarcasm and continued on. "I was wondering, you hiding anything I should know about?"

Josi immediately thought about the money that she had been saving. "No, not unless you count the husband and three kids."

Rhoda laughed. "Wonderful. That means you got something. Probably went out and got knocked up or something."

"Mom!" Josi squealed.

Rhoda was about to respond, but the phone rang. "I'll be right back," she said and then hurried out of the room.

Josi waited until she heard Rhoda answer the phone and then sat down next to Annabelle. "You know why we don't tell her about that money, right?"

Annabelle looked up to her. She was still innocent, and completely oblivious. Must be nice, Josi though. "Nope," Annabelle said as she shook her head.

Josi sighed. "Its a surprise for her. Really. Its almost like a Christmas present. Ya know what I'm getting at here?"

Annabelle just shrugged.

Josi smiled. "Well, I wanna go to college, real bad. But, it costs a lot of money. This way, when I get accepted, mom won't be stuck having to pay for anything. I'll have it taken care of." She watched as Annabelle kept the same blank stare. "Now do you see?"

Annabelle smiled and nodded. "Yes. Its a present so we don't tell her."

"Good," Josi said and then stood up. Truly, she didn't want to hurt her feelings. Something told her that the minute Rhoda found out about the money, she would feel bad. That was the last thing that she wanted.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Mary and her husband Robert Jennings sat at the dinner table. Everyone was quiet, again. Mary was starting to get bothered by this. "So, Lisey. How did your day go?"

Lisey shrugged. "Like any other day."

Robert looked up. "You care to elaborate on that? We don't know what your normal day is anymore. You have been hiding up in your room."

Lisey looked up. "I don't know. Just a normal day. I mean, I got up, went to school, took some notes, came home did some homework and now I'm here."

"How about you Johnny?" Mary asked. She had realized that there was no way she was going to get anything out of Lisey.

Johnny looked up. "I tested the pathagorean theorm using a ruler. It actually worked out. After that I started making a list of theorms that I want to test."

Mary smiled to him. "Thats good that you're that interested in something." She really had no idea what to say to that. It had been a while since she had studied math.

Lisey set her fork down. "May I be excused? I'm finished with my dinner."

Robert looked over to her. "You've only been with us for twenty minutes."

"I'm staying," Cassie said.

"Me too!" Jessica said.

"Fine," Lisey said. The others began to talk, but she didn't really pay attention to what was going on. Instead, she was going through a list of talents that she had. There had to be one thing that she was good at that no one else could do. She had to be different. There were only going to be three months to figure this out and she needed to make sure that she knew by then.

After dinner, Mary went up to Lisey's room to try to talk to her. "Lisey? You mind if I come in?" Mary asked knocking on the door.

Lisey opened the door. "Sure," she said and then stepped aside. "What is it?"

Mary went and sat down on the bed. "Come here," she said as she patted the bed, indicating for Lisey to come and join her. Lisey went and sat down. "Is there something bothering you?" Mary asked. "You have been awful quiet lately. Removing yourself from the rest of the family."

"No, just busy lately. That's all, really." Lisey tried her best to be convincing. She had a future to plan, and there was no way that she was about to tell Mary about it.

"Come on Lisey, I know you better than that," Mary said.

Lisey shrugged. "I don't know. Things just seem weird. I'm about to leave a group of people. Some of them I may never see again. Its just weird. That's all." It wasn't the truth, but she knew that would suffice as an answer.

Mary nodded as she took in what Lisey was saying. "We'll if you need to talk to me, I'm right here. Okay?"

Lisey smiled. "Thanks mom, but if you don't mind, I really do have some homework that I need to get done."

"All right," Mary said. She got up and went to the door. Stopping, she briefly looked back at her daughter sitting there. She knew that she wasn't getting the whole truth from her, and it bothered her. At the same time though, she knew that hounding her would get her no where. She continued on her way and closed the door behind her.

Lisey went over to her desk and pulled her notebook back out.

_The last thing that I want to do is to hurt anyone. I don't know why, but I feel like I have to push her away. My own mother. Nice right? I guess I just need some time alone to figure out who I am. _


	3. Helping Out

Chapter 3: Helping Out

_I have collected two hundred dollars this week. One of my best weeks yet. I have also started looking for a job. Nothing today, but next week I'm sure that I'll get something. Tomorrow we're going out to Long Island to see Aunt Mary. Lisey has called me asking about what highschool is like. Such an innocent little kid really. Weird, I'm only two years older, yet I have seen and been through things that she probably will never have to see. _

_It is horrible. I have already gotten high, drunk and then both at the same time. I have three piercings in each ear. I have a tattoo that my mom doesn't know about. I should probably either keep that a secret from Lisey or tell her to not look up to me. I hope that Annabelle doesn't do half the stupid things that I have done. _

_Anyways, the money for college is the only thing that I have gotten anywhere with so far. I haven't really found anyone for mom yet. I should work on that. Like I said, she really does deserve it. _

Josi closed her notebook and walked out into the living room where Annabelle was playing with her dolls. "Hey kid! What do ya want for dinner?"

Annabelle looked back to her and smiled. "Cake! With frosting!"

Josi laughed. "I don't think ma would appreciate that one." Josi continued over to the cabinet and started to look around. "I think we're going to have to get creative here Anna. We have noodles, parmesan cheese, and, well, that's about it for things that would go together." Josi turned back to Annabelle. "Ya think its worth cooking? Or shall we await mother's arrival?"

Annabelle shrugged. "Is there any spaghetti sauce?"

"Let me double check," Josi said and then started digging through the cabinet. "Okay, here it is," she said pulling the jar out and holding it up.

Annabelle stood up. "Why are you cooking dinner?"

Josi looked back to her and smirked. "What? Is that supposed to be something against my cooking?"

Annabelle shook her head. "No, its just usually mommy's job."

Josi laughed. "Well, we all gotta wake up early and I figured that I would be helping out if I got dinner ready for when ma gets home tonight."

Annabelle walked over and joined her in the kitchen. "Can I help too?" she asked.

Josi shrugged. "Sure, why not." She went and grabbed a pot and handed it to her. "Why don't you set this on the stove and thn take that glass over there and gradually fill the pot up with water?" It was silly, but she knew that Annabelle was not going to be able to carry a pot full of water, at least without a mess to clean up.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Lisey sat up in her room. As she stood in front of the mirror, she played with her shoulder length light brown hair. There had to be something to do with it. There had to be something that she could do with her entire image. Sighing, she sat down on her bed. What was there to do? Cut it? Maybe. Dye it? Her mother wouldn't like that very much.

Mary sat in the living room with Robert, Jessica and Cassie. Mary and Robert sat on the couch together as Cassie and Jessica played together on the floor.

"I think we need one more," Robert said, clearly joking.

Mary laughed as she watched the two kids yell and chase each other. "Only one more?" She turned to him and smiled. "If I recall right, you said the same thing after Lisey was born."

"I lied," Robert said as he shrugged.

"Mommy! Jessi took my dool and won't give it back!" Cassie yelled.

"Mine," Jessi said as she tightly hugged the doll.

Mary sighed as she rolled her eyes. "I'll handle this." she stood up and then looked back to Robert. "Unless you want to."

"I think I'm fine. I handled the whole slinging rubberband thing yesterday."

"I do owe you for that one," Mary said and then walked over to Cassie. "Now, Cassie?" she asked as she knelt down before her. "How old are you?" 

"Six."

"And how old is Jessi?" Mary asked.

"That shouldn't matter! Stealing's stealing! And that's against the law!" Cassie argued.

Mary stiffled her laughter as she laid her hand on Cassie's shoulder. She didn't want to laugh, but she just wasn't expecting her to say that. "Cassie, Jessi doesn't know any better. Besides, you're a big girl now. You know that in five minutes she's not even going to remember that that doll exists." She sighed as she watched Cassie cross her arms and pout. "You have plenty of other things to play with for five minutes, don't you?"

Cassie, without saying anything, stormed off towards the staircase and then ran up the stairs. Mary stood up and turned towards Robert. "Why did I just say that?"

"What? Tell her the truth?" Robert asked. "You know that if you would have went to Jessi and asked her for the doll that it would only make things worse. You would have taken something that should only last ten minutes take an hour."

Mary was about to go up after Cassie, but the doorbell rang. "Coming!" she said as she walked over. Upon opening the door, she saw Rhoda and her daughters standing outside. "Rhoda!" she said. She knew that they were coming today, she just thought it would be later on.

"Hey kid," Rhoda said as the two hugged. "Nice to see you're holding up in this rough neighborhood out here."

Mary laughed and then to Josi and Annabelle who both had the pink in their hair. "That's a bit different."

Josi laughed. "Nice to see you too Aunt Mary."

"Oh, I didn't mean," Mary started.

"Don't worry about it." Josi said and then looked around. "Lisey here? She called me a couple of days ago saying that she wanted to talk."

Mary was not aware of the fact that Lisey had called her, but didn't want to say anything it. "She should be up in her room where she's been living for the past few weeks."

"Thanks," Josi said and then started for the staircase. "Oh, and by the way," she said stopping and turning around. "Ask ma about her little pink strip."

Mary turned to Rhoda and laughed. "Really?"

Rhoda shrugged. "She was excited and had a lot left. I don't get to do all that much with em ya know? So I figured that it was no big deal."

Mary then looked down to Annabelle. "I don't think I have heard anything from you yet. How are you doing?"

Annabelle smiled and nodded.

Mary smiled. "Cassie's up in her room too. But I would wait a minute if I were you, her and Jessica just got in a fight and she's a little upset now."

"Okay," Annabelle said and then went and headed up the stairs.

"She's adorable," Mary said. Deep down, she wished that her kids would have come down and said hi to Rhoda, but she knew that wasn't going to happen until around dinner time.

"Thanks. Just keep in mind though, they lose their cuteness soon," Rhoda said.

Mary laughed. "Trust me, I know."

"I guess you would know better than me wouldn't you?"

Jessica came running into the room and grabbed onto Mary's leg. "Mommy! Mommy!" she yelled.

"What is it honey?" Mary asked as she picked her up.

"I saw a bug," Jessica said. "But daddy killed it. It was scary mommy!"

Mary tried to comfort the scared little girl as she stroked her hair. "Its gone now. You have nothing to worry about."

"You would never make it in New York with the really big bugs would you?" Rhoda asked, referring to the cockroaches.

Jessica looked back to Rhoda. "Hi Aunt Rhoda," she said and then buried her head on Mary's shoulder.

"How about we all go into the kitchen?" Mary looked back to Rhoda. "I think I need some advice on something."

"I think that's one of the only times that you have asked me, instead of me asking you," she said as she followed her into the kitchen.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Josi sat on the bed and leaned against the wall as she watched Lisey examine herself in the mirror. "You know, I could cut your hair for you or something if you're that desperate for a change in appearence."

Lisey sighed. she wanted so much more than that. She wanted to be a completely different person. Turing to face Josi, she shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

"All right," Josi said. "What's really bothering you? You call me up, ask me to help you get ready for high school and then stand there staring at yourself as if you were waiting to morph into something else."

"I don't wanna be me anymore."

Josi's eyes widened. "Oh?" she asked as she sat up. "That's really quite a complicated statement there."

"I don't wanna be me! Its not that hard!" Lisey went and sat down on the edge of the bed by Josi. "I don't wanna be the goody two shoes, little miss perfect that I have been. That's my mom. People expect me to be just like her, and deep down, I really am and it bothers me. I don't want to be her. I want to be my own person."

Josi was starting to understand her. "I see. You want to rebel a little bit?"

"I don't know. I mean, what kinds of stuff do you do?"

Josi laughed. "Come on kid, you can't be serious."

"What? I asked you a real question!" Lisey argued.

"Look," Josi said and then leaned forward, closer to Lisey. "You tell em that you want to be your own person, right?" Lisey nodded. "Well, you can't just go off of what I do then. You have to figure out what you like. What you want to do."

Lisey stood back up and walked over to the mirror. "I know. I just don't know what else I want though. I'm so used to just beign the way I am that I don't know any other way."

Josi stood up and joined her. "I think that's the point. You are who you are." She took a second to play with her hair in the mirror. "I did this because I felt like it, not because of some impulse to be someone else."

Lisey turned to her with excitement. "I wanna break the law."

Josi stared at her for a second to try and see whether or not she was serious. "Umm,okay? Let's not go that extreme."

"What? You haven't?" Lisey asked.

Josi shrugged. "Well, I have. I just don't think that you're ready for something like that. Something tells me that you would be the one to go and confess about three hours after you committed the crime."

"But that's one of the only ways to rid my image of a goody two shoes."

Josi rolled her eyes."Will ya stop using that term? You've already said it like ten times in the few minues that I've been here. Now, why does that bother you so much? Being a good person isn't a bad thing."

Lisey turned around to face Josi. "Yeah? I already told you, in just about everyway, I'm like my mom. Everyone expects me to be just like her. I am except for the fact that she was actually popular in school. I hear the stories of how her and her friends did this and that and went on trips. I have one friend. Most people have this feeling that I think I'm too good for them. All I am is shy."

Josi started to feel bad fro her. She was called to help and there wasn't all that much that she could actually do. "I gotta tell you, I'm not all that popular either. Its not about how many rules you break or how often you get drunk or any of that. Its willingness to get to know people. You're shy. If you wanna change that you're gonna have to get used to meeting new people."

Lisey walked over and grabbed the chair to her desk. She turned it to face Josi and then sat down. "All right then. I'm going to start just doing what I want and talking to who ever I want."

"Easier said than done," Josi said.

"I know."

Josi smiled. "I think I got an idea, but you have to completely cooporate with me. Got it?"

Lisey looked up with excitement. "Yeah," she said. "What is it?"


	4. Imperfection

Chapter 4: Imperfection

Annabelle walked into the bedroom without even knocking on the door. "Cassie?" she asked poking her head in. She spotted Cassie laying on her bed with her head down, buried in her pillow.

Cassie lifted her head and looked to Annabelle with tears in her eyes. "Don't you know how to knock?" she asked as she sat up.

Annabelle stepped into the room and shrugged. "No one ever has to at home, except for the bathroom." She went and sat down on the bed. "What's wrong?"

Cassie looked over to her. "Does your mommy ever play favorites?"

Annabelle shook her head. "She's not home long enough to pick favorites."

"Well, my mommy is. She always picks Jessie over me. Anytime we argue, Jessie's right."

Annabelle looked to her with confusion. "Maybe you're just bad at arguing." It was the only thing that she could think of. She and Josi never argued or fought that often. There was nothing to fight about when you were twelve years apart.

Cassie shook her head. Without another word, she got up and left the room. Talking just wasn't helping her. she liked Annabelle, but she had no idea as to what she was talking about.

Annabelle figured out that she was not coming back and decided to leave. She got up and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where she heard Mary and Rhoda talking.

"You're not a bad mother. Kids hide. Its a fact of life. Don't ya remember those after school conversations? How are ya? Good. What did ya do today? Nothing. Thats how it goes all the time Mare."

Annabelle decided to just walk in rather than wait for this conversation to be over. "Aunt Mary, is Jessica really your favorite?"

Both Rhoda and Mary turned to see Annabelle standing in the doorway. Mary was a bit startled while Rhoda had become used to the little girl randomly popping up. "What?" Mary asked trying to catch her breath.

"Is Jessica your favorite? Cassie said she was."

Mary went and knelt down before Annabelle. "No, of course not. Is she still up in her room?"

Annabelle shook her head. "She left me there and I came down here."

Mary sighed and then stood up. "I don't know how many times I have had this talk with her," she said as she walked off.

Annabelle looked up to Rhoda. "Did I make her mad?"

"No kid," Rhoda said as she started to laugh. "It has nothign to do with you. Trust me."

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It was later that night. Mary and Rhoda sat up down in the kitchen. On the table sat a bottle of rum that was about half full.

Mary held the glass up as she stared at it. "I told you earlier, I don't know what I'm doing wrong," Mary said and then took a sip. "Its like I failed or something." She set the glass down and then watched as Rhoda slid her finger around the rim of her glass.

"Come on Mary. Just because two children don't talk to you doesn't mean that you failed. It means you raised a normal family. Lisey is at an awkward age, and John boy there, well, he's just weird." Rhoda paused to quickly take a drink. "I mean, who takes the time for what he enjoys to do up there? Besides, you still got the other two, Cassie and Jessie. They seem promising."

"You don't understand. I sit here and hear about you and Josi. Josi tells you this, you and Josi did that. You two get along. Then Annabelle, you three act like a family. Mine won't even tell me what happened in school." Mary picked up her glass and chugged the rest down.

"Careful," Rhoda said right before taking the empty glass from her.

Josi walked down and saw the single light coming from the kitchen. "What are you two doing?" she asked stepping into the kitchen.

Both Rhoda and Mary looked over. "Come here," Rhoda said as she patted the seat next to her. Josi went and sat next to her. "Is this the darling daughter you were talking about?" Rhoda asked as she put her arm around Josi.

Mary nodded. "You actually venture out of your room?"

Josi nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Your Aunt Mary is having an emotional break down because Lisey won't talk to her."

Josi looked to Mary with confusion. "Not at all?"

"Well, nothing more than teh bare minimum."

Rhoda laughed. "Mine's dumb, she tells me things. Last month her boyfriend gave her her first hickey and she was so excited she came and showed me."

"I was proud of it," Josi said. She then looked over at the bottle. "You got any coke?"

"In the fridge," Mary said as she pointed behind her.

As Josi got up and went to the fridge, Mary grabbed the bottle and refilled her glass. "You think its something I did?"

"What?" Rhoda asked.

"Something I did," Mary said. She got distracted by Josi grabbing the bottle of rum and pouring some into her glass. "If they, don't talk to me because of something I did." She quickly looked to Rhoda as Josi walked around the table back to her seat. "Did you see what she just did?"

"Yeah," Rhoda said. "And its better than her going out and getting drunk at a party. She did that once and called me at four in the morning to come and get her. Now, I let her drink in moderation at home and she doesn't do that anymore."

"Besides, I think you two are worse off than I am at this particular moment," Josi said.

"I'll drink to that," Rhoda said right before she finished her drink. Standing up, she motioned to Mary. "Trust me kid, it isn't you. Just give it time. Now, I had better be going to bed, I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be a long day." She leaned over and hugged Josi. "Good night babe. Love you," she saind and then pulled away.

"Love you too ma," Josi said right before Rhoda walked out of the kitchen.

"You two even say that you love each other," Mary said.

Josi laughed. "Come on, it can't be that bad. A few drinks might make it seem that way, but its not."

Mary leaned in closer to Josi. "Tell me, why are you two so much closer that me and the hermit up there."

Josi shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we were all each other had for a while. She was working and I barely ever got to see her. When I did get the chance, I made sure to actually spend the time with her."

"So I should move out?" Mary asked.

"Might help," Josi said.

"How much did she work when you were little?" Mary asked.

Josi shrugged. "I don't know. But she didn't get the second job until after Annabelle was born. " Josi took a drink. That was something that she didn't like to even think about. The entire time period in which Rhoda had gotten pregnant and then went on to get a second job. The time that she had to get used to not seeing her mom. So instead of thinking about it, she decided to change the subject. "Lisey might hide a lot, but she does love you. She just doesn't wanna be you."

"What?"

"Yeah, she told me how people expect her to be like you and how you're too perfect to ever live up to. She's been up there trying to figure out she is."

Mary pushed herself off the table and leaned back in the chair. "Who ever told her that? I never even thought that let alone talk to her about it." Mary knew that she was just like her. It was obvious in the little things that she did everyday. The word perfect never came to mind though. In her eyes, her children were the closest thing to perfect, but there was no way that she ever expected any of them to grow up to be perfect. "That's got to be a lot of pressure on a young girl. Perfect."

"You're tellin me. Thank God my ma's not perfect," Josi said.

Mary briefly glared to her. "I'm not perfect."

Josi laughed. "You do seem like it. I mean, come on. I've heard your life story. Its the perfect story." Josi swirled the drink in her cup and then set it back down.

"I told you, I'm not perfect. I would have been able to tell that my fiancee was a loser before I dated him. I wouldn't have had to move to Minneapolis." There was a small undertone of bitterness to Mary's voice, but she soon shook it off. "My kids wouldn't be hiding away or feeling like I'm playing favorites, thinking that they have to be perfect. I wouldn't have caused tension your parents, Annabelle wouldn't even be here right now if I were perfect."

Josi sat and watched her. She had known that Rhoda and Joe were fighting right before she was born. Annabelle though. That was the first time she had heard anything of how she came about. "How does any of this have to do with Annabelle?"

"You didn't know?" Mary asked right before she hicupped. "Well, I guess there's another example as to how imperfect I am."

Josi looked down. she tried to think about everythign that had happened around the time, but couldn't figure it out. She quickly looked up to Mary with pleading eyes. "What happened?" she asked.

Mary sighed. "I can't tell you."

Josi just stood up and headed for the guestroom. "Night Aunt Mary," she said leaving the room.

"Good night," Mary said.


	5. Changing Direction part 1

Chapter 5: A Change in Direction (part 1)

It was the next morning. Josi sat on the edge of the bed as she tied a scarf around her head as a headband. Rhoda stood in front of the mirror as she did her make up. "Hey ma? If I ask you something, something kinda personal, would ya answer it?"

Rhoda continued putting blush on her cheeks. "Sure," she said not giving it much thought.

Josi looked around to make sure that Annabelle was out of the room and then turned her attention back to Rhoda. "Well, last night, me and Aunt Mary were talking. After you went to bed we got to talkin about how she thinks she's not perfect, ya know."

"That's a lie," Rhoda said. "She's always gotten the long end of the stick. I don't know how she does it, but that's how it happens for her."

"I know, right?" Josi shook her head and then got back on subject. "Anyways, she was trying to prove that she isn't."

"She really had to think hard didn't she?" Rhoda interrupted.

"Yeah," Josi quickly answered. "But uh, one of her examples was that Annabelle wouldn't be here if she were perfect."

Rhoda froze. She dropped her brush and turned to face Josi. "What all did she tell you?" she asked. She knew that she couldn't be mad at Mary, she was drunk. Besides, she was the one that left the two. Sober, she could trust Mary with anything, but give anyone a little alcohol and they'll give you their entire life story.

"That's it," Josi answered. Her mother's reaction had told her that it was bad. She had to know now, her couriosity had been sparked. There had to be some story behind all of this.

Rhoda sighed. She went and sat down next to Josi. "I guess you're old enough to hear it if ya really wanna." It took her a minute as she thought back to everything that had happened. "You uh, remember that night that i came in the apartment. I was crying, if I recall right my clothes were ripped a little?"

Josi's eyes widened in realization. That was all she needed to hear. She had never thought back to that night, but after the mention of it, she remembered it.

_Josi was twelve years old. She sat up in bed as she colored a picture that she had drawn earlier. The place was quiet, the only noise she heard was every time Brenda turned a page in the magazine she was looking through. Her head perked up as soon as she heard the door. _

_"Rhoda?" she heard Brenda asked. _

_"I'll talk to ya about it tomorrow. Okay? I just, I just need to be alone right now." Her voice was full of panic and shame. She sounded as if she were getting ready to cry. _

_"All right. Call me okay?" _

_"Sure." _

_Josi listened for the door. As soon as she heard it, she got out of bed and went over to crack open her door. She didn't see Rhoda. She knew from what she had heard that there was something wrong, and she was determined to figure out what it was. _

_Once she knew that she wasn't out in the living room, she stepped out and went to the bathroom door which was cracked open. Inside, she could see Rhoda standing before the sink, staring at herself in the mirror. _

_"Are you okay?" _

_Rhoda jumped. As she caught her breath, she turned and opened the door. "Mary Josephine! What are you doing up? Its one in the morning, you should be in bed by now!" _

_Josi was taken aback by her mother's reaction, but kept her composure. "I heard you come in, and I could tell that something was wrong. I just wanted to make sure you were all right." _

_Rhoda suddenly broke down crying. "I'm sorry," she said. She fell to her knees. "I just," she looked up into Josi's eyes. The eyes that belonged to someone still innocent. "I hope you never..." _

_Josi walked over and hugged her. "Its all right." She had no idea what was really going on, but she knew that Rhoda was hurt by it. _

"I honestly had not remembered that in a long time," Josi said as she looked to Rhoda with pity.

Rhoda softly laughed. "Obviously not. I'd think you would've put two and two together."

The two sat there in silence for a minute before Josi decided to speak. "What does Aunt Mary have to do with that?" She felt bad asking, but she knew that there had to be more to the story. Mary would not have mentioned it if she had nothing to do with it.

Rhoda sighed. This was really not what she wanted to be talking about, but she figured that if she expected Josi to tell her everything, that she might as well be able to do the same with her. She was seventeen, there was no doubt that she was old enough to hear it. "Mary had come into town when Rober had a meeting or something and he had to stay overnight. Well, the kids were with his mom so Mary and I were able to go out that night, but she had just found out that she was pregnant." Rhoda shrugged. "These guys came out from this back road alley type deal while we were walking home. They had a gun and they wanted her. Now, in the back of my head, I know they're gonna beat her and that they'll most likely end that pregnancy she was so happy about. I couldn't let that happen to her."

Josi just looked to her as a small smile came across her face. "Oh my God ma, you're like, a hero."

"Think whats ya want," Rhoda said as she stood up. "Just don't copy my actions." Going back to putting on her makeup, she thought back to when she had told Josi she was pregnant.

_Rhoda knew that she had to tell someone. There was no one that knew yet, besides her. She figured that Josi deserved to be among the first to know, it did affect her more than anyone else she was going to be telling. _

_"Josi?" she asked as she lightly knocked on the door. "May I come in?"_

_"Sure!"_

_Rhoda walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed. She watched as Josi closed her sketch pad that was always on her desk, and turn her chair to face her. "What is it?"_

_Rhoda hesitated for a moment. "Well, I have something to tell you that affects how things are going here."_

_Josi signalled for her to continue. "Yeah?" _

_"I'm pregnant," Rhoda said. _

_Josi just looked to her. "So, you're going to be more busy?" _

_Rhoda laughed. "Oh yeah," she said. "I'm probably going to have to get a second job. That means I won't be here as much." _

_Josi nodded. "If you need any help, just ask," Josi offered and then turned back to her desk. _

"Ya know," Rhoda started. "You have never ceased to surprise me. You handled news so calmly all the time. I told you I was pregnant and you tell me that you'll help out. Most kids either get excited about having a live baby doll or resent the fact that they'll get less."

Josi laughed. "Hey, I did help didn't I?"

Rhoda chuckled. "Yeah, I didn't expect you to actually get up at two in the morning to feed her."

"I didn't get up, I was still up. All I had to do was heat up a bottle and sit there with her."

"Yeah, but still," Rhoda said. "I never did that with Brenda. I either let her cry or went and woke my parents if they slept through her crying." She finished putting her make up on and turned to her. "Seems more like you should be watching over me sometimes."

Josi just smiled. She had no idea what to say to that. Part of her would feel bad if she had accepted that, while there were a few times where she had been the more responsible one. Not many, but there were a few times. She didn't want to admit it, but there were times where she felt that she needed to step up and be mature, to grow up a little. When Annabelle was born, something in her head clicked that the more she helped out, the smoother things would be around there. While her mom was gone at work, she learned that the best way to get what you want it to get it yourself, to not wait for others to help you. "Do I really seem that grown up?"

Rhoda laughed. "You kidding? There were days that I could've sworn you were thirty five. I worry about those times though that you feel like an adult."

"The hickey?" Josi asked.

"That and the drinking," Rhoda said. "I know that you think you can hold it well, but all it takes is one too many shots and any guy could have their way with you. Then you wake up in someone else's bed wondering what happened."

"I told you about the pot right?" Josi asked.

"Yeah, right after you told me that you were grounded for a month," Rhoda said. "Its hard to get mad at you though. You don't keep any secrets from me, you normally don't go do that stuff, you've stuck to every curfew I've given you, you help out around the apartment without asking for any money. When you do make a mistake, you punish yourself."

Annabelle walked into the room. "Aunt Mary says that breakfast is ready!"

Josi and Rhoda both looked over and smiled. "You wanna wait a minute?" Rhoda asked.

"No, I wanna eat and she's making us wait for you," Annabelle said.

Josi got up and walked over. "Yeah? Does that bother you?" she asked.

"Yeah," Annabelle said.

"All right then ma, you heard the girl we gotta go to breakfast," Josi said and then picked the girl up and held her over her shoulder.

Annabelle laughed as Josi started walking. "Put me down!"

Rhoda smiled as she watched the two and began to follow them.

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Lisey and Josi sat up in Lisey's room. She had gotten permission to go over to one of her friend's houses that night, and Josi was helping her to get ready. Josi stood behind Lisey, fixing her hair as she sat at her desk.

"This is going to look awesome. I promise," Josi said.

Lisey laughed. "Josi, don't say things like that. You're starting to make me nervous."

Josi sighed. "I'm fixing your hair. Not cutting, not dying, whatever's done can be undone right away. Just calm down." Josi brushed the back a bit and then handed Lisey a mirror. "Here, its done."

"I swear Josi," she said as she took the mirror. She hesitated a moment before finally taking a look at herself. Her hair was pulled back halfway. The ponytail in the back was teased to look fuller while her bangs were pinned off to the side. "Hey, I like it," she said approving of it.

Josi stood back and smiled. "Of course you do."

"Thank you," Lisey said as she stood up.

"Don't mention it. Now I'll wait to do your make up until we get there. Something tells me you're not actually allowed to wear makeup."

Lisey turned back to Josi with surprise. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

Josi just shrugged. "I'm psychic."

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Mary sat on the couch in the living room as she blankly stared.

"That bad huh?"

Mary looked up and saw Rhoda standing there. "Yeah, I guess I had a little more last night than I thought."

"A lot more than I did, that's for sure," Rhoda said as she sat down next to her.

Mary chuckled. "I usually don't so that. I guess I was pretty upset last night." She turned to Rhoda. "I'm sorry about that."

"Hey come on, if you can't fall apart in front of your best friend, when can you?"

Mary sighed as she sat back. "I'm still sorry about it."

"I bet," Rhoda said. She kept quiet during breakfast, but it was still bugging her. She had to see if Mary remembered mentioning Annabelle to Josi last night. It wasn't a huge deal, she was just curious. "Hey uh, Mary, you by any chance remember talking to Josi last night?"

Mary sat there and thought for a moment. There was nothing. She had known that she said good night to Josi, but that was it. "No," she confessed. "Why?"

"She asked me about Annabelle this morning. Actually, she asked me about her father. You told her that if you were perfect, that Annabelle wouldn't be here."

Mary's eyes widened. "I didn't mean to," she said.

Rhoda laughed. "Don't worry. I just find it weird that you blame yourself for something that normally occurs in New York." She sat back and thought. "It doesn't bother me, she probably would have asked some day anyways."

"I was the reason we walked instead of taking a cab," Mary argued.

"What did you spend the money on?"

Mary looked to her. "Don't you remember? I had to throw up and no place seem to have a restroom open to the public, so I gave you the money to buy a soda for me while I puked."

"It doesn't matter. This might strike you as weird, but I happen to love that little blonde misfit. Sometimes I don't know what I would do without her." She shrugged. "Either of them actually."

Mary laughed. "I know. Its hard to picture life without them."

Lisey and Josi came down the stairs and stopped in the entrance of the living room. "Hey Ma, I'm taking Lisey out to her friend's. We'll miss dinner here, but we'll be back before late. We gotta leave a little early so that I can pick up a birthday card for Donnie."

"All right. See ya," Rhoda said.

"Bye mom," Lisey said as she followed Josi out.

Mary smirked as she looked to Rhoda. "How do you like that? Josi tells you everything while my daughter barely says bye and leaves."

"You two are more like mother and daughter. Me and Josi are more like roomates. Ever since she was eight she has been able to cook for herself, she was able to clean the entire apartment at ten. The only reason she waited til then was because I wouldn't let her use all the bleach and stuff before then." Rhoda looked down to her hands. "I can see it now. As soon as she turns eighteen and has the money, she's going to move out. Annabelle is starting to head in the same direction."

"You let her use that stuff when she was ten?"

"Well, more like one of the babysitters did and then I saw that she knew enough to use it right, so I started letting her clean." Rhoda sighed. "You know, she still hasn't asked me for any money yet."

"That's not a bad thing," Mary said.

"I know, it just doesn't seem right though. I used to ask my parents for money. They would turn me down, but I still asked."

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Josi sat behind the steering wheel as they waited at the stop light. "I turn left here?"

"Yes," Lisey said. She was truly excited for this. She was about to go to her first real party.

Josi sighed as she turned on the blinker. "I gotta tell you a few things before you go through with this. There's going to be drinking, that's a given. There might be drugs, I'm pretty sure there are going to be drugs."

"I think I can handle that," Lisey said.

Josi laughed as she finally got to turn. "Sure, but before we get there, I have a few rules, because I do have to take you home tonight."

"Understandable."

"One, you stay with me. I don't care what you say you're going to do or whether or not you think you can trust everyone. You stay with me. Two, don't accept anything from anyone unless you are positive you know what it is. I don't wanna have to drag you out of there because someone laced something and you were too dumb to fall for it. Three, I don't mind if you drink, but drink slowly and stop an hour before we leave. That way you can chew some gum or whatever and get the smell off your breath." Josi stopped at another light and looked over to her. "What do you think?"

"I think I can do that. I just have one question though."

"Yeah?"

"What about making out?" Lisey was truly curious about that. She had never made out before and figured that tonight would be the night.

Josi smirked as she shrugged. "What about it kid? Don't ya know how?"

Lisey shyed away from her for a moment. "I don't know, I've never done it before. I was wondering if it would be okay to tonight."

Josi laughed. "Sure kid. Just make sure to walk out of that house a virgin."

"Are you still one?"

Josi started to drive again. "Yeah, why? Are you wanting to go that far or something?"

Lisey shook her head. "I was just wondering. You have made out and gotten a hickey and I thought maybe you have gone that far. I wanted to know what it was like."

"I couldn't. I wanted to, but I couldn't. I just think its too risky right now. Me and Kenny have been together a few months now, but I still don't think we're ready. Besides, I don't always have the best of luck. I would most likely either end up sick or pregnant, neither of which I need right now."

Lisey was about to say something, but they were almost at the house. "There's the place," she said pointing to it.

Josi got there and pulled into a spot on the side of the road. "You ready?" she asked.

"Yeah," Lisey said.


	6. Changing Direction part 2

Chapter 6: Changing Direction (part 2)

Josi walked into the house with Lisey and looked around. There were people from her school. Everyone was scattered around, talking, dancing, whatever. Most of them had drinks in their hands, and Lisey had a fairly good idea as to what was in those cups.

Josi walked over to the side of the door and leaned against the wall. She had an idea of what Lisey was thinking right now. It was a culture shock to her. This was not something that she did every weekend and it would take getting used to. Deep down though, she knew that this was not what Lisey wanted, and she was hoping that she would realize that before the end of the night. "What do you think?"

Lisey stared out and observed everyone. People that she knew, doing things that she didn't expect to see them do. A couple sitting in the corner making out, two boys having a contest of some sorts in the middle of the room. "What?" she asked being taken back from her thoughts.

Josi lifted herself from the wall and walked over. "I asked you what you thought," she said.

"You did?" Lisey asked. She was stalling as she took another look around the room.

Josi grabbed her shoulder. "Come with me kid," she said. Josi lead the girl outside and they both got back into the car. "I have a few bucks on me, wanna go grab a burger or something?"

"Why did you bring me back out here?" Lisey asked. She knew that Josi could see that she wasn't ready, but the fact that it was someone else who made up her mind for her that bothered her. "I could have handled things in there."

"Sure you could've," Josi said as she went through her purse for her keys.

Lisey just sat there. She was more disappointed in herself than anything. she was the one that wanted to do this and here she was finding out that she couldn't.

"You know, that's not a bad thing. I can't see you drinking or any of that stuff. You're innocent, the world could use more people like you," Josi said as she put the key into the ignition.

"I don't want ot be innocent," Lisey pouted.

"Why not?" Josi asked. She sat back and pulled the keys back out of the ignition. Something told her that this was going ot be a long talk. "Being innocent is not this bad thing that you make it out to be. You're fourteen years old, you have a good home life, I'm sure you do good in school. There is no reason for you to want to go out and suddenly change yourself. Hell, the world could use more people like you out there."

Lisey considered what she was saying. She was right about having things good. She never had to worry about anything. It was just hard to hear from someone who was out with those types of crowds on the weekends. Hearing stories about getting hickeys and drinking and then having that same person telling you not to do that was not the way that it was supposed to be. "You do it though."

Josi shrugged. "So? Just because I do something doesn't mean that you have to."

"Hypocrite," Lisey said.

Josi smirked down to her. "You could see it that way. Or, you could consider that maybe I know what could go wrong at those places and that I know what I'm talking about when I tell you that its not such a bad thing to not want to go." She watched Lisey for a minute. "You know, you never did answer my question."

"What?" Lisey asked. She was blankly staring forward.

"Why don't you want to be innocent? There has got to be more to it than just popularity or seperating from your mother. There are other ways than complete rebellion. This all just doesn't sound like you."

Lisey laughed. "I don't know," she said as she looked over to Josi. "I mean, first off, it would seperate me from mom. It truly would. There's also the way that you make it sound. You go out every weekend, you do whatever you want. I want that life. I want to be more like you."

Josi had never heard that from anyone before. "Seriously?" she asked. "My life is a hell lot more than getting drunk or high on the weekends. Those parties, having fun, all of that is built up stress from the week that I'm releasing. Everyday is exactly the same for me. I get up, go to school where God forbid I screw up at all, cus there goes any chances of scholarships right there. I go and pick up Annabelle cus ma's always busy. Take Annabelle to work with me, then get home in time so that ma doesn't figure out that I've been working and then do homework before dinner so that I can spend time with ma and Anna."

Lisey looked to her with sympathy. "Why don't you tell your mom about your job?"

Josi shrugged. "I don't know. Just cus." She sighed. "I guess I don't want her to feel bad. I'm old enough to have an actual job, but for the past few years I've made some decent money doing odd chores for others around the apartment. They all agreed to not tell her so I keep working for them."

They both sat there silently for a moment. Lisey had just learned a bit about Josi, something that made her feel a bit more luckier. "You wanna go now?" Josi asked breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Lisey said.

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Mary sat on the edge of the bed with Jessica on her lap as Annabelle and Rhoda went through their bags to make sure that they had everything. "Aunt Mary, why do you live so far away?" Annabelle asked.

Mary laughed. "Too far of a drive for you?"

"Yeah," Annabelle said.

"Wait until we go to Minneapolis," Mary said.

Rhoda quickly looked over and shook her head. "I don't know if we can yet," she mouthed out.

Annabelle just looked over and watched with curiosity. "Minneapolis?" she asked.

Mary looked over to her. "Well, there was going to be a party there, but I had forgotten that it had been cancelled." It was the best that she could come up with.

"No it wasn't," Jessica said looking up to Mary.

"Yes it has dear," she said patting her head. She sighed and looked to Rhoda. "Do you think there's anything we could do though to uncancel it?"

Rhoda shook her head as she picked up onto where Mary was getting at. "No, I don't think so."

Annabelle quickly finished going through her things. "Done! I gots everything!" she said looking up and smiling.

Rhoda smiled to her. "Good job! Now why don't you take Jessi and go play?"

"Okay," Annabelle said. she walked over and grabbed Jessica's hand. "Come on," she said.

Jessica got down off her mother's lap and followed Annabelle out of the room. Annabelle had learned a small trick from Josi. When ever Josi wanted to learn something that no one would tell her, she would go to someone who either did not completely understand the situation or did not know that she wasn't supposed to know. She knew Jessica had no idea what was really going on, but she could repeat what she had heard people say.

Annabelle lead Jessica out to the back yard and took her to the small sandbox to play. "I like playing in the sand," Annabelle said.

"Me too!" Jessica said.

"Too bad though, I wanted to go to Minneapolis," Annabelle said.

"Me too," Jessica agreed again.

Annabelle then smiled as she looked up to Jessica. "Why did you wanna go?"

"Cus, I heard its a wedding and those always has cakes," Jessica said.

"Cakes are good," Annabelle agreed. She had gotten what she wanted. Now all she had to do was tell Josi what she had found out.

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Rhoda sighed as she looked to Mary. "You know that I would love to go, but I don't know if I could afford it."

Mary stood up. "I understand," she said sounding disappointed. "Its just that everyone's going to be there. People that we haven't seen in a while."

Rhoda closed her suitcase. "Like I said, I would love to go, but I don't think we have the money for it." She started to laugh as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Did he invite both Phyllis and Sue Anne?"

Mary sat next to her as she began to laugh. "Yes, actually."

"Ted's still the bright one ain't he?" Rhoda asked. She sat there and thought for a moment as the room grew silent. "Ted's son is getting married, my daughter's gonna be a senior next year. Feels weird."

Mary laughed. "You think that feels weird, I just get sent a picture of Bess and her daughter, who happens to be one year younger than Josi. Phyllis is a grandmother to a teenager."

"Yeah, I was there for that. Little Amelia." She smiled and turned to Mary. "Its kinda funny if you think about it. Remember at Joe's funeral she thought Josi was cute and said she wanted her own baby?"

Mary laughed. "Yeah, and then Phyllis got upset."

"Kid showed her," Rhoda joked.

"Her husband left her before the baby was born though. I felt bad for her after that," Mary said.

"Yeah," Rhoda said. "Didn't she get remarried a few years after that though?"

Mary turned and looked to Rhoda. "You were there."

"Oh yeah, I had a lot goin on that year," Rhoda said thinking back on the event.

Mary sighed and stood up. "Well, I had better go get dinner ready. Something tells me that people will start complaining if I don't."

"Yeah, kids tend to do that," Rhoda said. She sat there as Mary left the room. It was hard for her to imagine missing out on something. This was the first major event that she had been missing out on. Most things she was able to just barely make it, but this one, she didn't know if she could.


	7. The Truth

Chapter 7: The Truth

_Back from Aunt Mary's house. I had helped a friend, and I think that is one of the best things that I have done lately. Most things, even though they are for others, that I have done seem to have a bit of a selfish background behind them. Sure, I want to help my mom out, but I am also saving the money for college, for me. I was truly thinking about this all the way home. All the things I wanted, even though for my mom and sister, all helped me out. _

_Today, Anna told me that we were supposed ot go on a trip to Minneapolis. I know deep down why we weren't told, mom didn't know if she had the money to take us. I understand that. I think there is something I can do about it. I can be a little less selfish and let go of a few hundred dollars to let her do something that she wants to do. I can stay behind and take care of Anna. I just got to find a way to get her the money without her finding out that it was me. _

Josi put down her pen and looked over to Annabelle who was already in bed and asleep. As quietly as she could, Josi pulled open the desk drawer and pulled out an envelope. Carefully, she opened another drawer and took out the notebooks and sketch pads and set them aside. In the back was a small little flap. She grabbed a nail file from her purse and used it to pry open the flap. Under it, there lie a key. She took that key and used it to open the bottom drawer. Inside was a lockbox. Josi smiled as she took it out and set it down on her bed. Taking out her keys from her purse, she chose the right key and opened it. On top she had her birth certificate and an envelope, the one that contained the picture from her parent's wedding day and the letter that Joe had written for her before he had died.

Josi slowly picked up the envelope and studied it for a moment. She had only read the letter a few times. This was the one time where she really did envy Annabelle. Neither of them had gotten the chance to meet their fathers, but Annabelle didn't have anything to miss. There was no reason why she would ever want to meet her's, she might not know it yet, but it was true. Josi on the other hand, had a father that was a decent man. One that wanted to be around, one that actually would have loved her.

Avoiding the picture and letter, she reached in and grabbed another key. She set the envelope down and picked the nail file back up to lift up the false bottom in the box. Inside was another box, the one that the key belonged to. She opened it revealing four stacks, one of one dollar bills, the next of five dollar bills, then tens and so on, all the way to one hundred dollar bills. Each was held together by rubberbands. First, she grabbed six fifties, and then went on to five twenties and then ten tens. Five hundred dollars. She put the five hundred in the small envelope that she had gotten earlier and then put everything else back.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

_Why did I listen to Josi today? I almost made it. I almost got to have fun today. I guess it wasn't all Josi though. I would have left no matter who was there with me or what they had told me. It doens't matter anymore, I tried and I failed. At least I know now. I know a bit more about who I am too. That's always a plus, right? I, Rhoda Louise Jennings am a goody two shoes, and that's how its going to be. _

Lisey set the pen down and looked around the darkened room. She got up and walked over to her mirror. Her make up bag, well there were only a couple things in there that had been left from Josi for her. She picked up the black eyeliner. Josi had told her that a thin line was the best, but she thought different. She applied a thick black line under each eye and then did the same to the top lid. Once the mascara was added, it made it look even darker.

It wasn't an entire personality change, but it was enough to make her happy. Smiling at herself, she started to play with her hair. "Bangs," she said to herself.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The next morning, Josi sat on the couch as she did Annabelle's hair for her. "What are you doing" Rhoda asked as she walked out of the bathroom. She went and stood behind the couch as she watched for a second. "She looks like Judy Garland."

Annabelle laughed. "Who's she?"

"Dorothy," Josi said as she tied a ribbon in her hair.

"Looks cute. Then again, she could be bald and still be adorable."

Annabelle looked back to Rhoda. Her eyes were widened in fear. "I don't wanna lose my hair!"

Rhoda leaned onto the back of the couch and smiled to Annabelle. "I don't think ya gotta worry about that sweety."

"No?"

"No." Rhoda leaned in and kissed Annabelle on the cheek. "I promise."

"Your hair is done," Josi said.

Annabelle jumped off the couch and started towards the bathroom to see what it looked like. "Thank you Josi!"

Josi laughed. "Your welcome!" She then slightly turned and folded her arms and leaned on then on the back of the couch. "Hi," she said to Rhoda.

"Hi."

"What's ya up to?" Josi asked.

"Not much kid. You?"

"Not much old lady."

Rhoda teasingly glared to her. "Watch it. I pay your bills still."

Josi laughed as Rhoda started to walk away. "You called me kid, I thought we were putting each other into age groups."

Rhoda was going to say something, but stopped as soon as she saw an envelope sitting before the door on the ground. "What's this?" she asked as she picked it up.

Josi pretended to not be interested as she turned and faced forward on the couch. "Maybe you got a stalker." She shrugged. "Or better yet, someone who's got the hots for ya, but is either too creepy or shy to come out and say it."

Rhoda rolled her eyes and then continued to open the envelope. The first thing she pulled out was the money. "Oh my God."

Josi quickly went and joined her. "Nice," she said as she took the money out of Rhoda's hand and examined it. "Where did ya get this?"

Rhoda examined the envelope. "I don't know." She tried to see if there was a letter or note or something. It was empty. No clues as to who could have left it there. From what she could tell, it had been slid through the opening on the bottom of the door, so it had to be someone who knew where she lived. There just wasn't many people that she knew that would just leave that kind of money. "I think we should take this down to the police and turn it in," she said grabbing the money out of Josi's hand.

Josi looked to her with panic. "You can't do that! That was a donation to us!" The last thing she wanted was for that money to be claimed by someone else. It was hard enough for her to give up the money to her mom, but to a complete stranger? That was not about to happen.

"Josi! This is New York! I would love to keep the money, but no one here does something for nothing. I don't wanna walk out that door one morning with either someone ready to frame me for stealing the money or a horny man expecting something in return!"

Josi stood there and watched her reach for the doorknob. "You don't know that!" It wasn't a good argument, but right now anything that stalled her was good enough. "I mean, who says that there are absolutely no good people in this world? What if they're like Aunt Mary? Then what?"

"I wouldn't be this way if there were more good people in this world," Rhoda said as she went ahead and opened the door.

Josi's shoulders dropped. "I did it," she admitted.

"What?" Rhoda paused in the doorway.

Josi looked down as she played with the bottom of her flannel shirt. "I, I've been sorta saving up some money." The last thing she wanted was to see Rhoda's face, but there was a curiousity as to how she was reacting so far. She couldn't resist it. She slightly lifted her head and looked up. "I have been doing random jobs around the apartment such as laundry, getting groceries, cleaning, just any old chores that people were willing to pay me to do."

Rhoda stepped back in and closed the door behind her. She looked to her with confusion as she started to smile. "Why didn't you tell me about it? That's not something to be ashamed of." She then looked down at the envelope. "And why did you give me the money? You should be the one to use it. Not me."

Josi looked back down and shrugged. "That's not actually all of it. And I know about the wedding and I wanted you to be able to go. I didn't think that you would accept the money from me, so I wanted it to look like someone else gave it to you." This time, she fully lifted her head and looked Rhoda in the eyes. There was no anger or anything, not that she had been expecting anything like that. It just would have helped if there was something. "I have around three thousand dollars all together, and this week I have a few extra things to do. I should get about a hundred even at the very least."

Rhoda nodded. "Let me get this straight. You are willing, no wait, more than willing to show me a hickey you got, but something that you should be proud of, you can't tell me?" There was a tone of betrayal in her voice. "I'm not mad, just confused. I think you got this whole teenager thing backwards. Tell me the good things and leave out the bad."

"I was savin' up for college okay? I just wanted to do something without any help what so ever. I wanted to make sure that no one actually knew what I was doing, this way, I know." That was not the full truth, but enough of it to get by on at least.

There was a long silence between the two. Annabelle walked out and saw them and then soon just walked into the bedroom. It was obvious that there was something wrong. The longer the silence went on, the more guilty Josi began to feel. "Look ma," Josi said breaking the silence. "You're a great mother. I have never been able to actually repay you. Please, let me give you this one thing. You deserve it."

Rhoda forced a smile. "Okay," she said pulling Josi in for a hug. As soon as she let go, she watched Josi walk over to her room. Once she was gone, Rhoda turned around and stared down at the money. "If I'm such a great mother then why does my kid feel she has to go and support herself behind my back?"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Lisey stood in front of her mirror. The t-shirts she usually worn had been replaced with a tight black tank top. A short black and white checkered skirt that feathered out. It had actually been a decent sized skirt, but she had taken the initiative to roll it. Black socks with a whote bow at the top that came up to right above her knee. She now had choppy bangs that covered her left eye. Her eye make up as drastic as it had been when she was playing around with it the previous night.

Mary sat downstairs with Cassie at the table as they worked on a puzzle together.

"I htink this one might fit... here," Mary said as she placed one of the pieces.

Cassie picked up another piece and studied it. "I think I know where it goes."

"Do you?" Mary asked.

"Good morning mother!" Lisey cheerfully greeted.

"Good morning," Mary stared out cheerfully, but stopped as soon as she saw Lisey standing there. Her mouth was agape as she tried to figure out what to say. "Rhoda Louise Jennings. What do you think you are doing young lady?"

"Mom, I'm just wearing what I want to wear. I'm not showing off anythign that shouldn't be shown in public. Its fine. Really."

Mary sat back in her chair. Her eyes were still glued to her daughter. "I guess its not, but, why? I mean, this just isn't like you? Did Josi have something to do with this?"

Lisey laughed. "Actually, Josi told me not to. But I thought I should anyways. I just felt like it."

"I see," Mary said.

"I think I like it," Cassie said.

"Thank you," Lisey then looked back up to Mary. "See? I do have one fan."

Mary looked down to Cassie. "You didn't help anything."

Lisey went and sat down across from the two. "Look, I'm not going anywhere out of this house today. Just use this as a trial period. Get used to it. If you still hate it, then I will change back."

"All right," Mary said.


	8. Working Things Out

Chapter 8: Working Things Out

Josi and Annabelle sat on Josi's bed infront of the opened window. They each took turns blowing bubbles out into the city. "I think we're going to Minneapolis," Josi said right before she blew the bubbles.

"Really?" Annabelle asked.

"Yeah," Josi said and then handed the wand to Annabelle. "I gave her the money, and she didn't give it back." Josi just stared out at the bubbles floating aimlessly through the air. She then looked down to Annabelle and watched as she blew more bubbles. "I know this is a big question for a five year old, but do you think everything happens for a reason?"

Annabelle didn't give it much thought at all. "Sure," she said without even looking to Josi.

Josi just looked down and watched Annabelle. Ever since she had heard the story behind her, she had been thinking about it almost nonstop. There had to be a reason why she was there. The odds of that just happening were slim. The odds that it was Mary and Rhoda who were stopped, they decided to take Rhoda over Mary. With all the stress on a woman's body its harder to actually become pregnant. Yet, here was Annabelle.

"Josi!" Annabelle said as she handed her the bubbles.

"Thanks, but I think I'm done. You can keep em."

"Okay," Annabelle said.

Josi looked to make sure that Annabelle wasn't paying attention and then went over into Rhoda's room. Walking into the darkened room, she turned on the light and made her way over to the dresser. She stood there for a second and tried to think like her mother. Where would she keep everything expensive? Josi then walked over to the closet and pulled out an old shoe box from the back. Inside, she found the key under an old pair of boots. Setting the box down on the bed, she took the key and opened the bottom drawer of the dresser and pulled out the jewelry box. Reaching in the drawer again, she felt around the top and found the key taped up there. She grabbed it and opened the jewelry box. In the corner was a small white box. That was what she was looking for. She opened it to reveal two wedding rings, her parents wedding rings.

"Whats ya doin?"

Josi turned and saw Annabelle standing in the doorway. She had no idea who Joe was, and Josi knew better than to tell her. It would only bring up other questions, questions that she could not answer. "Just lookin. Did ya close the window?"

"Yes!" Annabelle said. She walked right over nad sat down on the bed behind Josi. "Don't mind me."

"I was just lookin through some of ma's jewelry. Just interested."

"Why?"

Josi shrugged as she kept her eyes down on the rings. "I dunno. Just thinkin, that's all."

"You thinkin about taking it?"

Josi turned and saw Rhoda standing in the doorway. "I'm sorry, I just..."

"Don't worry about it," Rhoda said as she walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Annabelle. "I would like to talk to you for a minute though."

Both Josi and Rhoda looked over to Annabelle. "What?" Annabelle asked.

"I think this one's supposed to be private," Josi said.

"Okay," Annabelle said as she sat there. "I don't care."

Rhoda put her hand on the little girl's shoulder. "Please? Just a minute?"

"Okay," Annabelle said right before she jumped off the bed and left the room.

As soon as Annabelle was gone, Rhoda motioned for Josi to come and sit next to her. "I've got a couple questions for ya."

Josi set the small white box down on the dresser and then sat down next to Rhoda. "Yeah?"

"Why didn't you tell me about the money?"

Josi shrugged. "I dunno. I just," she sighed as she looked to Rhoda. "I wanted to do something for myself. I'm just like that."

Rhoda looked away for a moment. "You have always been independant." She could remember Josi trying to take care of herself at the age of four. "You know that I can't accept that money from you."

"Why not ma?" Josi leaned forward. "I earned it, and I'll have done with it what I want."

"That's the point Josi! I can't take away money that you went out and earned. This was for college! You're future! Its not like I'm taking money that you were saving for some worthless toy!"

Josi stood up. "Fine," she said. Her head down, she slowly walked over to the dresser and began to put the rings back.

Rhoda just watched her. She knew what she was looking at, it didn't bother her, it just struck her as weird. It was random. "My second question was why?"

"Why what?" Josi asked without turning to her.

"Why did ya just pull those rings out?"

Josi turned to face her, the rings in her hand. "Just to look at em. You didn't think I was gonna steal em did ya?"

Rhoda shook her head. "I know you better than that," she said.

Josi sighed. "Every Christmas and Easter, you leave Annabelle with either Grandma and Grandpa or Aunt Brenda, and take me to see the Gerards." Josi started to stare off as she thought. "Everytime its the same thing, Grandma hugs me, stands back and watches me for a second and then tells me how much I remind her of Daddy." She turned and set the rings back down in the box. "Sometimes I ask Donnie what he was like, and he tells me stories about him."

Rhoda just sat there and watched her with sympathy. It hurt her to see Josi like this, but what could she do?

"Do you think everything happens for a reason?" Josi asked.

Rhoda didn't know how to respond at first. "I um, sometimes. Yeah."

Josi turned back to face her. "Do you think he died for a reason?" Josi could instantly see that Rhoda had no idea how to answer that. She went and sat down next to her. "I was just thinking. I mean, if he were still alive, our lives would be completely different. I don't know if Aunt Mary would've come out here, and then she never would have met Uncle Robert. Their kids would've never existed. I'm pretty sure that Annabelle wouldn't be here." Josi stopped as soon as she noticed that she was rambling and looked up to Rhoda. "I guess I would just feel better to know that he didn't just die. That there was more to it. That he actually died for a reason."

Rhoda sighed as she put her arm around Josi. "I would love to answer that, but I don't think anyone out there could. If it makes you feel better though, I don't see why you couldn't believe that."

"It does," Josi breathed out.

They sat there in silence for a minute. Josi then pulled away and looked to Rhoda. "So you want to reconsider taking the money? Cus if you don't I'll end up using the money for Anna and I."

Rhoda just rolled her eyes. "I'll think about it."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Mary stood in the bathroom in front of the mirror as she got ready for bed. Brushing her hair, she sighed. "Do you think we'll be able to handle all staying in one hotel room?"

Robert looked up from the be. "Sure, why not? Lisey will find a way to isolate herself in the corner, Johnny will bring some weird project with him and ignore us. Cassie and Jessie will argue and Cassie will claim Jessie is the favorite."

Mary put the brush down and turned the light off. "Yeah," she said as she pulled back the covers on her side. "Why has she started doing that lately?"

Robert shrugged. "I dunno. But she's probably right."

"Robert!" Mary snapped as she began to laugh.

Robert watched her as she got into bed next to him. "The way I figure it, it has to be between Cassie and Jessie. We don't know enough about Lisey anymore to even consider her and Johnny would prefer us not to acknowledge his existence. Cassie does state that Jessica is the favorite, so we might as well make her happy and go along with it."

"That simple huh?" Mary asked. "Maybe we should put a chart in the kitchen and show everyone their rankings."

Robert looked over and smiled to her. " You really are worried about whats going to happen over there aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. First off, six of us of is a bit much to fit in a room. We can't just seperate the family once we're there though. Second, I think anyone in this house realizes that there are other people living here. They all just kinda have their own things going on."

Robert laid his hand on her shoulder. "Sweetheart, we do have a month before we leave. I'm sure that if we try hard enough, we can get both Lisey and Johnny out of their rooms, convince Cassie we like her, and teach Jessie not to steal toys."

"I hope you're right," Mary said.

"I know I am," Robert said and then leaned over and kissed her.

Mary smiled to him. "Well, at least if they end up all hating us, we'll still like each other."

"Right," Robert said and then turned off the light. "Just stop worrying. Once we get there, things will work out, I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Mary said as she turned off the light.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Josi walked in the door to the apartment. She had just gotten back from a date with Kenny. "Hi ma," she said closing the door behind her.

Rhoda looked up from the couch. "Hey Josi. How'd your date go?"

Josi walked over and joined her on the couch. "It was fun. He decided to take me roller skating. I'm not great at it, but it gave me an excuse to hold onto him the entire time."

Rhoda laughed. "Just don't go too far with that."

"Don't worry. I won't, not for a while at least."

"Good," Rhoda said.

Josi sat there for a minute. She could see that her mom was watching something on tv, and figured that this was one of the better times to ask. "So? You think about Minneapolis?"

Rhoda rolled her eyes. "Why do ya wanna go so bad?"

Josi smirked. "Cus I know you do. I also think it would be nice to get outta New York."

Rhoda sighed and then smiled to her. "All right. If you wanna go, we'll go. On two conditions though."

Josi nodded.

"You pay for your ticket, both ways," Rhoda started.

"And Anna's,"Josi interjected.

"Sure, why not. And second, you have to us a hotel room. You're not paying for it, but you have to make sure that we have somewhere to go once we get there."

"Thank you," Josi said as she leaned over and hugged Rhoda.


	9. New York to Minneapolis

Chapter 9: New York to Minneapolis

_I can't believe it. I have gotten my mom to take us to we leave for the airport. I don't know why, but I feel like this trip is going to help out a lot. Like mom's going to meet someone there or something like that. If anything though, it gets us away from the same drab routine here. A vacation is good every once in a while. I just hope that everything goes well while we are there. The last thing I need is mom saying "I told you so" on the plane ride back. I have a feeling most mother's wouldn't, but she would. _

Josi sighed as she set her pen down. Looking back, she saw Annabelle asleep. It was going to be a long day tomorrow, the last thing she wanted to do was wake her. Quickly, she turned off the light and got into her bed.

The next morning, the trhee were rushing around the apartment. Rhoda was making sure that her and Annabelle had everything, Josi was making sure that she had the plane tickets and was double checking the reservations.

"Did you find somethin for the wedding?" Rhoda called out into the kitchen.

Josi, who was looking down at the tickets, slightly turned to answer her. "Yeah! My green dress! The one with the short sleeves and the skirt that comes out a bit!"

"Good!"

"I thought so!" Josi responded and then stood up and headed over to her room. One more time, she decided to go through her things and make sure that she had everything. "Our flight leaves in two hours! You ready to go?" she questioned standing before her opened suitcase.

"Yeah! Hold on a second!"

Josi closed her suitcase and took it out to the door. Rhoda quickly followed her with two other suitcases. "Are we forgetting anything?" Rhoda asked as she looked over everything.

"I think Anna," Josi said.

"Yeah, that would be good to bring with us wouldn't it?" Rhoda joked.

Annabelle walked out of the bathroom and joined them. "I'm here!" she announced.

"Good! Let's go!" Rhoda said.

They grabbed their bags and started out the door. Something told Josi that this was about to be a long trip. They had to catch a flight from New York to Detroit, wait, and then catch the next one to Minneapolis. She wasn't so concerned about herself, but more for Annabelle.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Robert stood downstairs before the door with a pile of suitcases ready to go. Johnny and Cassie sat on the steps as they waited for Mary, Jessica and Lisey to finish getting ready to leave.

"I'm ready now," Lisey stated as she rushed down the stairs with her suitcase.

"About time," Johnny sighed.

"We've still got to wait for your mother," Robert said. "You have any idea what she's doing up there?" He asked to Lisey.

"Nope, sorry. I was just concentrating on getting my stuff together," Lisey answered.

"Daddy? I'm hungry," Cassie complained.

Robert looked down to see her staring, begging him. Instead of saying anything, he just sighed.

"Mary!" he called out. "Are you almost done up there?"

"I'll be down in a minute!" Mary responded.

"She said that ten minutes ago," Johnny mumbled.

"Calm down," Robert snapped. "Just be patient."

Johnny just blankly stared at for a second. "All right," he breathed out. It was hard for him to hear the man who has been constantly asking if everyone was ready tell him to be patient. In defeat, he stood up and walked out the door. "I'm going to be out on the porch," he announced.

Robert rolled his eyes. "Honey! We're starting to lose kids!" he called up the stairs.

"I'm coming!" Mary called down. She started down the stairs with Jessica holding onto one hand and a suitcase in the other. She was irritated with the fact that she had been rushed, but the last thing she wanted to do was to get everyone yelling at each other right before they were about to be stuck with each other.

"Good! Everyone grab their things and lets get going," Robert ordered.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

On the plane, Rhoda sat behind Josi and Annabelle. Annabelle slept in the seat next to the window as Josi sat in the aisle seat reading.

"Josi?" Rhoda whispered as she leaned over to the seat before her.

"Hmm?" Josi asked as she continued to read.

"Did you get the room?" Rhoda questioned.

Josi sighed as she set the book down on her lap and turned around to face Rhoda. "Yeah ma. I got a room at the hotel that the wedding is at. We're in room two thirty seven," Josi explained.

"You know the room number off hand?" Rhoda asked.

"It's the same room number from The Shining," Josi replied and then went back to reading.

Rhoda rolled her eyes and then sat back in her seat. For some reason, she was beginning to get nervous. It felt as if she were going to some sort of high school reunion. This wasn't the first time that she was seeing everyone since she moved back to New York, it was just that it had been a while. Since Joe had died, she had seen Lou, Phyllis and Bess and Amelia.

It just occured to her, no one knew about Annabelle. Maybe Phyllis did, but only because Amelia and Josi sometimes talked.

"Josi?" Rhoda called again.

"Yes mother?" Josi responded.

"You and Amelia talk sometimes, right?" Rhoda questioned.

Josi set her book down and turned to peek her head around the back of her chair to see Rhoda. "Yeah? Why?" Josi asked. She could hear that Rhoda was a bit nervous.

"You ever tell her about Anna?" Rhoda asked.

Josi shrugged. "I might've mentioned her. I know she has a little brother that's a few years older that Anna. Why ya wanna know?" Josi asked.

"I don't know if anyone knows about your sister yet," Rhoda whispered.

"Ah," Josi replied. "I guess that'll be a story for you to start out with," Josi suggested.

"Yeah," Rhoda responded.

It wasn't that Rhoda was embarressed to tell them about Annabelle, it was just that she didn't know how to start. Showing up with a five year old and no husband was usually something that would bring up a few questions.


	10. Old Enough part 1

Chapter 10: Old Enough (part 1)

Mary and Robert got two separate rooms. This was not the way they had planned things, but it was going to be the way it had to be. Three kids were in each room, and they just couldn't trust to leave any of them alone without any fighting occurring. Lisey and Johnny got along, it was Cassie and Jessica that they were worried about, and if they had to watch those two the entire time, they might as well have two separate rooms anyways.

Mary got Lisey and Jessica while Robert took Johnny and Cassie. Mary was currently standing in front of the bathroom mirror as she began to get ready for the dinner that they were going to tonight. Ted had invited Mary, Rhoda, Phyllis, Lou, Murray, Sue Anne and their families to dinner so that he and Georgette could see them aside from everyone else that was going to be there.

"Mom?" Lisey called from the bed where she was going through her clothes.

"Yes dear?" Mary responded.

"Who all is going to be there?" the young girl questioned.

Mary set her hair brush down and stepped out of the bathroom and stood so that she could see her daughter. "Well, Rhoda with Josi and Annabelle. Then of course you have Ted and Georgette with Marylou and Davy and Karen. Phyllis with her new psychiatrist fiancee and Bess came along with Amelia and Henry. I believe that Mr. Grant came alone. Murray and Marie came. Sue Anne probably brought a boyfriend with her," Mary explained as she rolled her eyes to the mention of Sue Anne.

"I don't know half of those people," Lisey complained.

"Of course you do," Mary argued as she went and sat down next to her. "Who is it that you don't remember?"

"Well, Ted, Georgette, Marylou, Davy, Karen, Murray, Marie, and Sue Anne," she answered.

"Ted? The arrogant one? Thinks everyone loves him? Silver hair, talks like he's constantly reporting the news?" Mary questioned.

"Oh," Lisey responded. "Yeah, I think I remember him," she said.

"Then Georgette, his wife, the one who has the soft little voice. Davy is their older son, the one that they adopted and he is getting married to Karen. Davy's little sister, their actual daughter is Marylou, she's real soft spoken too. Murray and Marie are married, Murray is the bald one, sort of sarcastic at times, the one that cuts on Ted all the time and his wife is real nice," Mary explained. She then let out a sigh. "Then there's Sue Anne, she can be a bit different. She likes to think that she can have any man that she wants in the room. You'll know her when you see her," Mary stated.

Lisey just nodded her head. "Some of them sound familiar to me," she replied.

"I thought they would," Mary said.

There was a knock at the door. "Mommy! Mommy! There's someone at the door!" Jessica called out.

Mary laughed as she stood up. "Thank you for telling me Jessie," she said as she walked over to the door. Upon opening it, she saw Rhoda, Josi and Annabelle standing on the other side. "Mare, I got a problem," Rhoda stated as she walked passed Mary into the room.

Mary waited for the two girls to follow Rhoda in before closing the door and joining Rhoda on the bed. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Rhoda sighed. "You know how its been a while since I've seen everyone here?" she questioned, hoping that Mary might just pick up on what she was saying.

"Yeah," Mary answered.

"Well, think, its been six years since I have seen everyone. What happened to me within those past six years that no one knows about?" she questioned. Rhoda felt bad that no one knew about Annabelle and didn't want her to know that no one knew about her. It most likely made no difference to Annabelle what so ever, but she still felt bad.

"I see," Mary said putting the pieces together. "Does anyone know?" she asked.

Josi shrugged. "I think Aunt Phyllis might. I know that Amelia knows, so Bess probably does," she interjected, getting both Mary and Rhoda's attention.

"The judgmental one knows," Rhoda remarked looking back to Mary.

"Well, its not like everyone is going to be whispering about you or anything. I mean, they're all there to see Davy get married," Mary explained.

Rhoda sighed as she stood up. "I just don't want to be answering twenty thousand questions," she stated.

"Who cares?" Josi asked. "They ask a few questions and the whole thing is dropped. Good," Josi said.

Rhoda desperately looked to Josi. "I don't think you understand, I don't want to talk about it," she explained.

Josi nodded and then leaned back against the wall.

"What are you three talking about?" Lisey asked.

All three looked back to Lisey. "Nothing," Mary answered.

Josi kept eye contact with Lisey and silently apologized. She could see that Lisey was upset that everyone knew something that she didn't and they were all talking about it in front of her.

Lisey right now felt that she was on the same level as Jessica and Annabelle were at right now. The only difference between her and those two was that they didn't care. It was hard for her to grasp the concept of having to act like an adult at times and then being treated like a kid at others.

She did understand that some things were personal, and at the same time she respected that. All she wanted though was for those things not to be talked about in front of her. It made her feel left out and like a little kid again. It reminded her of the time that her mother had miscarried. Back then she didn't know what had happened, but she eventually found out not too long ago when one of Mary's friends mentioned something about it. She could remember her mother crying and her dad trying to calm her down.

Lisey shrugged to Josi. It wasn't like there was anything that she could do about it.

There was another knock at the door. "How many people know which room we're in?" Lisey asked.

"I don't know," Mary replied as she got up to answer the door.

Josi looked back to Annabelle and Jessica playing a game on the other bed. "You two having fun over there? I haven't heard either of you talk in a while," Josi said.

"Yeah," Annabelle answered for the both of them.

"Hi hi!"

"Oh God," Rhoda breathed out. She recognized that voice.

Mary lead Phyllis into the room. "How have you been?" Mary questioned.

"Oh Mary, you wouldn't believe how my life has been going for me. You see, I had this little period of time in which I was a little stressed out and it was suggested that I go see a psychiatrist," Phyllis started.

"So they finally figured out that you were nuts?" Rhoda interrupted.

Phyllis turned and glared to Rhoda. "Oh, hi Rhoda. You haven't changed a bit have you?" she asked.

"Neither have you," Rhoda said.

"Anyways," Phyllis said turning her attention back to Mary. "I was seeing this man, the one that I told you about on the phone, Dr. Jerry Robbins. Well, after I had had what he felt were enough sessions, we decided to start going out," she explained. "And now I have this," Phyllis stated as she held out her hand to show off her engagement ring.

"Phyllis," Mary gasped as she took a look at the ring. "That's beautiful."

Rhoda stood up and walked over. "Lemme take a look at that will ya?" she asked. "Wow Phyl, I think you hooked a good one," she said examining the ring.

"Congrats Aunt Phyllis," Josi commented from the background.

Phyllis looked over to her. "Josi?" she asked.

"The one and only," Josi announced as she threw up her hands.

"My you've grown," Phyllis observed.

"I'm only a year older than Amelia," Josi responded as leaned back against the wall.

"Yeah, I know," Phyllis said with an undertone of bitterness that caused Mary and Rhoda to exchange looks of surprise.

"Hi Aunt Phyllis," Lisey greeted, pulling the attention towards her.

Phyllis stepped to the side and looked over to Lisey and smiled. "You know, you look just like your mother," she stated.

Lisey forced a smile. "Thank you," she said, hoping that no one else could tell how much she hated to hear that phrase. It wasn't anything against her mother, it was just that no one wanted to hear how much like someone else they were when they were trying to be their own person.

"And how are you two doing? Cassie and Jessica right?" Phyllis asked.

Jessica looked up and waved while Annabelle quickly looked up and shook her head. "I'm Annabelle," she said, causing Rhoda to turn and watch Annabelle. "Annabelle Corrine Morgenstern."

Rhoda's face dropped the second that Annabelle used her full name. Just the fact that her last name was Morgenstern would give everything away to Phyllis. Mentally, she was bracing herself for the look that she was about to see when she turned and looked to Phyllis.

"I didn't know you had another one," Phyllis remarked.

Rhoda turned her attention to Phyllis and nodded. "Well I do," she responded.

"I see that," Phyllis replied, sounding a bit hurt. "I guess I'm not the one you tell though when you have a boyfriend and a daughter," she pouted. "I guess that boyfriend must be pretty good to be helping you out with the second kid," she then remarked, trying to see if Rhoda would tell her more about him.

Rhoda sighed. "Phyl, I dunno how to tell you this, but that assumed boyfriend doesn't exist," she explained.

Phyllis's eyes widened in sympathy. "Did he leave you?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was one of those wham bam thank you ma'am type of things," she uncomfortably joked.

Mary questionably looked to her. She knew that Rhoda didn't want to talk about it, but she didn't expect that.

"Yeah, I remember that weekend you kept asking me if he had called while you were gone. It was kind of pathetic really," Josi said, going along with Rhoda's story.

"You didn't think it was so pathetic when you found out that you were gonna be a big sister," Rhoda remarked.

Lisey sat there and listened to the four talking. She could figure out what was going on now, but she didn't want to say anything. The only thing she didn't understand was the story behind Annabelle. She knew that Rhoda was not married when she had her, but that was about it. Other than that, all she had to go off of was what she was hearing now.

"Well, it wasn't all that bad. She is doing good with raising them both," Mary quickly defended Rhoda.

Phyllis let out a sigh. "I guess Rhoda would be the one to get in that situation," she remarked.

Josi stood back against the wall and rolled her eyes. She had to keep all her thoughts to herself at the moment and it was becoming harder.

"At least I didn't have to go nuts to meet a man," Rhoda shot back.

"Alright!" Mary interjected. "Who wants to go and see who else has shown up?" Mary offered.

There was a brief silence. Phyllis consoled her ego by telling herself that at least she could keep a man while Rhoda thought about whether she should just come out and tell everyone or wait for the questions later on.

"Has Bess and Amelia arrived yet?" Josi asked, breaking the silence.

Phyllis nodded. "Yeah, three doors down to your left," Phyllis answered as she motioned in the direction.

"Thank you," Josi said and then looked in the general direction of Lisey, Annabelle and Jessica. "Come on, lets go say hi," she suggested.

Lisey went and grabbed Jessica as Annabelle went and stood by Josi. As a group, they left the room and walked down the hall, leaving the other three to themselves.

"So, Mary, not to ignore your request or anything, but how about you tell me how things have been going with you before we leave?" Phyllis requested.

"Pretty good. Lisey is getting into writing, Johnny's still with his little science projects. The only thing now is that Cassie and Jessica have started arguing a lot. Cassie seems to think that Jessica is the favorite. Now Robert and I have to constantly be breaking them up. They don't get physical or anything, just yell at each other," Mary said.

"That's your kids Mary. What about you?" Phyllis asked.

"Well," Mary started to think. There wasn't much going on in her life right now besides her kids. "I've just been busy taking care of the kids. It's four of them, they tend to take up most of my time," she explained.

Phyllis laughed. "Don't you think I know that Mare? I mean come on, I'm a mom too. Its just that you had such a promising career, and here you are now letting Robert go out and earn all the money while you stay home with the kids. I just thought that you wouldn't go for that type of situation, that's all," Phyllis explained.

Phyllis was right, there was a time where Mary never thought that she could settle for the life that she had now. She did try to balance out working and raising the kids, it just became too much for her though. She was able to keep a job working as an editor for the paper up until Johnny was born. Right before Johnny started school, she tried to get a job at the local news station, but it only lasted until Cassie was born. Shortly after that, Jessica was born and she just gave up on trying to work.

"Somethings are just a little bit more important," Mary replied.

"Hey, if I could've, I would've stayed home with my kids," Rhoda said, trying to defend Mary. She knew that this was a little bit different though. What she should have mentioned though was the fact that Phyllis didn't have a steady job when Bess was younger.

Phyllis just nodded. There was something about her that had changed over the years. There was something missing. She was still a little pushy, but she seemed to have toned it down a bit. "Well, anyways, now lets go see who else is here," she announced.

Mary and Rhoda both agreed and followed her out of the room.

O o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The four girls arrived at the door and Josi knocked. "Bess? Amelia?" she called out.

The door opened and Amelia stood at the other side. "Hey!" she greeted. "How have you been?" she asked, inviting the group into the room.

"I've been good," Josi responded as she walked passed her. "Last time I talked to you, I was sixteen, now I'm seventeen. Still have the same boyfriend, and I'm going to be a senior with a lot of money saved up. How about you?"

Amelia closed the door after everyone was in the room and smiled. "Well, I just got my license, but, I lost a boyfriend," Amelia said.

"Well, now ya can go drivin around and find a new one," Josi stated.

"Exactly," Amelia responded and then looked over to Lisey. "How about you there? Haven't seen or heard from you in a while," she said.

Lisey shrugged. "I'm starting high school next year. That's about it," she said.

"That's cool. High school's fun," Amelia said.

"I hope so," Lisey responded.

Josi gave Lisey a reassuring smile. "It will, trust me," she said.

Amelia turned her attention over to the two small children in the room. "How would you two like to go play with Henry?" she offered.

Jessica was about to answer, but looked over to Annabelle to see what she was going to say first. As soon as she heard Annabelle say yes, she nodded in agreement. Amelia then took the two and lead them into the bedroom section of the room to where Henry had a couple of toys had out in front of him.

While the three were walking in, Bess passed them. "Hey Josi, Lisey. Who are you two doing?" she asked while putting a few bottles of juice for Henry in the fridge,

"Good," Josi answered. "You?"

"I'm good. Just waiting until the after party of the wedding," she answered.

"That's right," Lisey said. "Johnny mentioned something about watching Henry for you that night."

"Yeah," Bess said as she closed the door. "I need a break every once in a while, and this seemed to be the perfect chance," she stated.

Amelia came back out to join the three. "Hey mother, you mind if I go out with these two for a little bit? Jessica and Annabelle are over with Henry," Amelia requested as she motioned back to Henry.

"That's fine. Just make sure that you're ready for dinner tonight. I promised Mr. Baxter that we would all be there," Bess informed her.

"I'll be there," Amelia promised before leading Josi and Lisey out the door. It was as soon as she closed it behind her that a huge smile came across her face. "I have something that I want to do with you two in a couple nights," she stated.

"And just what would that be?" Josi asked, slightly amused.

"Well," Amelia started as they began to walk down the hall towards the elevator. "I want to have a little contest," she explained.

"What kind of contest?" Lisey nervously questioned as they stopped before the elevator.

Amelia sighed as she briefly looked down with her hands on her hips. "A dating contest," she announced, raising her head back up. "I want to see who can get the most guys to agree to meet up with them that night after the reception and then for the second round, pick the one that you think is best and see who picked the best guy," she explained.

Josi nodded as she considered the idea. "I think I'm in. Just one thing though. Ya mind if I get my ma in on this? She's somewhat desperate for a date, and I think that she could use this more than any of us," she inquired.

"Okay," Amelia agreed. She then turned to Lisey. "How about you? Are you in?" she questioned.

Lisey shrugged. She really didn't think that it was a good idea. There was also the chance that her mother would tell her no. The elevator doors opened, and the three stepped inside. "I guess," she replied, watching the doors close.

Josi glanced over to Lisey and then turned back to Amelia. "I don't think she should. I mean look at her. She's only fourteen. I mean, I don't even know if she's kissed a guy yet," Josi argued.

Lisey knew that Josi was only looking out for her, but still, did not like the idea of someone speaking for her. "It's okay Josi, I think I can do this. I mean, what's the harm in it?" she asked, trying to act casual.

"All right then, everyone's in," Amelia announced.

Josi sighed and turned to Lisey, looking to her as if she were crazy. "I really don't think this is a good idea," she whispered.

Lisey shrugged. "I gotta try some time. Right?" she asked.

Josi just rolled her eyes and went back to facing forward.


	11. Old Enough part 2

Chapter 11: Old Enough (part 2)

Josi walked into the hotel room to see Rhoda and Annabelle sitting on the bed as Rhoda fixed the little girl's hair. "Hey ma!" Josi called out as she went over and sat down on the opposite bed. "I gotta talk to you about something," she said getting straight to the point.

"Yeah?" What's that?" Rhoda asked without taking her attention away from Annabelle's hair.

"Amelia and I have this game we wanna play," Josi started.

"Can I join?" Annabelle begged. Anytime she heard the words play and game, she knew that she wanted to be a part of it.

Josi just laughed. "I don't think so," she answered, "but I don't think you would like it much anyways."

Annabelle just lowered her head and silently pouted. "You don't know that," she she softly stated.

Josi gave Annabelle a sympathetic look before turning her attention back to her mother. "Anyways, we wanna see who can get the most numbers from guys and then pick the best one to go out with after the reception," Josi explained. "We would be going back to Amelia's place I think, and I only plan on being out til about three," she stated.

Rhoda sighed as she looked over to Josi. "You promise me that you will not be alone with this guy, ever. I also want you to stay in this hotel, be back here by three, no later and see me before you leave with him. You hear me?" Rhoda really didn't like the idea of Josi going out with some guy that she didn't know, but it was only for a few hours and they wouldn't be alone and they would be right in the same building.

"I promise," Josi stated.

"Good," Rhoda responded and then went back to Annabelle's hair.

"But I do have one more question," Josi stated.

"Yeah?" Rhoda flatly asked.

"Ya wanna join?" she offered.

Rhoda looked over to her as if she were crazy. "Ya really think I wanna go down there, make a fool of myself collecting numbers and then finding one that I like and blindly going out with him for a few hours?" she questioned.

Josi sighed as she leaned forward and rested her arms on her legs. "You don't have to go out and get the numbers, all you gotta do is find a guy that ya like and go out with him," Josi exlained.

Rhoda finished Annabelle's hair and turned to face Josi. "I know what you're trying to do here, and really it's a nice thought, but it just doesn't appeal to me. Believe it or not kid, when you reach a certain age those fun nights out just seem to lose excitement. I got you two to worry about, and I'm not that young anymore. If I go out with someone, I better have an actual chance with that person and they had better get along with you and your sister. I want somethin' serious, not just some stupid one night stand," Rhoda explained.

Josi looked down and shrugged. "All right," she said in defeat. Standing up, she smiled. "Maybe back at home," she said and then walked over to the mirror where she started checking to see if she had to redo her make up or anything.

Rhoda just watched her. Josi had mentioned dating to her before, but she never tried to get her to do something like this before. Wanting to talk to her alone, she looked down to Annabelle. "Say, Anna, why don't ya go over to Aunt Mary's room and see if she needs help watching Jessie, okay?" she suggested.

"All right," Annabelle agreed. She hopped off the bed and quickly made her way over to the door and left.

"Come here," Rhoda instructed as she patted the spot next to her.

Josi did as she said and sat down next to her. "What?" she asked. It was evident what was going to be talked about, but it was the only thing she could think to say.

"Come on kid, spill. All the sudden you're tryin' to get me to go out with a random guy I meet," she said.

"I know," Josi stated, trying to avoid the topic. Staring straight forward, she tried to think of a way to tell her why. The last thing she wanted to tell her was that she was afraid of leaving her alone. Mainly, she was afraid of her mom being alone because of her. "I'm going to be getting ready to graduate and go off to college," Josi cautiously started. Looking over to see how Rhoda was reacting, she could tell by the smirk on her face that she was catching onto to what she was about to say.

"And then it's just gonna be me and Anna," she attempted to finish Josi's thought.

Josi smiled. "Yeah. Then she's going to be getting closer to going out on her own," she continued.

"Considering that she's going to be starting the first grade next year, I think that we still have a little while before she moves out," Rhoda remarked.

"I just don't want to the be the reason you end up all alone when you could have been out there getting remarried and having someone there," Josi blurted out.

"I thought you were supposed to be smart," Rhoda remarked. Once she saw that she had captured the girl's interest, she continued, "first off, its not your fault. I decided not to go out looking for a new man because I would rather be with you. I did date a little here and there, but I decided that for some reason you were the better choice to spend a Saturday night with. Second, if your theory was true, that being married or having a boy friend would keep me from being lonely, then everything that happened between Joe and I would've never happened. He would still be here right now."

Josi sat there and thought about it. She was right, there was no way to guarantee that she would always have someone. It just felt better to know that there was at least a little hope though. To know that maybe the one she is with now might still be there when she left home. Deciding to let the subject go, she looked up and smiled. "So I guess I'm just going to have to stay home with you forever then huh?" she joked.

"I love you, but there's a limit," Rhoda teased.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

"You want to do what?" Mary asked in disbelief as she quickly wheeled around from the mirror to face her eldest daughter who was currently leaning casually against the wall.

"I would be with Josi and Amelia," Lisey offered in defense. "It's not like I'm doing this all by myself."

"Lisey, I think I would much rather you come back here with me afterwards," Mary stated.

Lisey sighed and crossed her arms. "Why?" she asked trying her hardest not to sound whiny.

Mary was about to answer her question but was distracted by a knock at the door. "Hold on," she said and then rushed to the door. "Hi Annabelle," she smiled as she greeted.

"Something wrong?" Annabelle inquired.

"No," Mary replied.

"Yes! I can't do what your sister and Amelia are!" Lisey called from the background.

"The game?" Annabelle asked as she leaned her head to the side to see Lisey.

"You know about this?" Mary asked.

"Yeah. Josi was asking ma about it," she replied.

Mary knew it was wrong to pry, but she wanted to know. "Did you hear what your mom had to say about this?" It wasn't just to know, she just wanted to know whether or not Josi was actually able to do this.

"She's allowed to, she just has to see ma before she goes, stay with Amelia and then be back by three," Annabelle explained. "I think some of the people here are a lot nicer than the ones back home, I hope she finds someone to bring back home with us."

Mary softly laughed at the last part of her statement. "Were you wanting to see Jessie or Cassie?" Mary asked.

Annabelle just nodded.

"They're both next door," Mary stated.

"Thank you," Annabelle said and then headed next door.

Mary closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Her smile faded as she turned her attention back to Lisey. "You want to know why you can't go," she said more to herself.

"Josi can go," Lisey offered.

"Now hold on, you don't know that yet. She can go if Amelia's able to go and we haven't heard anything about her yet," Mary explained.

"Can I go if she can go?" Lisey attempted once more.

"I'm sorry honey, no," Mary said. "You're only fourteen years old, you don't know these guys and that's way too late for you to be out anyways."

"Amelia's sixteen and Josi is seventeen. That's only a couple years older than me," Lisey argued.

Mary sighed as she pushed herself off the door and walked over to the bed to pick something out of her suitcase to wear. "At that age, a couple years is a lot."

Lisey gave up. It was no use anymore. Instead of fighting a losing battle, she plopped down on the bed and blankly stared down towards the ground.

"I'm sorry," Mary apologized once more.

"I just don't understand," Lisey started. "They are going to get to do whatever they want while we're here and I'm going to be locked up here in a hotel room."

Mary looked to her with sympathy. "Again, you'll realize this once you start high school, but a couple of years can make a huge difference. Another thing is, Josi and Amelia don't come from the same area you do. When you have kids that grow up in the rougher parts of New York or Los Angeles, it's probably hard to tell them that they can't go out when you're in a nicer area. I mean, you've been to where Aunt Rhoda lives and where Bess lives, yeah, they're not bad places, but you have got to know where you are going and whether or not you can trust the people that you are with," Mary explained.

Lisey just blankly stared at Mary. "I don't see how that has any relevance."

Mary sighed. "They're both better judges of character and know how to take care of themselves better because they have probably had to learn that a lot earlier than you had to," she responded.

"I guess that's why Josi told me not to join, no one thinks I can take care of myself," Lisey thought out loud.

Mary thought she was being a bit dramatic, but the last thing she needed right now was to get in an argument. "I know how it feels, I was your age once. Believe me, in a couple of years you will be able to do the things that Josi and Amelia are doing."

"It'll be a little late then," Lisey said.

"Come on Lisey, we got to get ready and head down to dinner. You can pout after that as much as you want," Mary said as she went back to finish getting ready.

Lisey rolled her eyes as she got up and started to get ready.


End file.
